1. Technical Field
The described embodiments generally relate to an apparatus and method for providing near-field communication (NFC). More particularly, the application relates to apparatus and methods capable of providing high bit rate NFC transmission with an enhanced power efficiency. The embodiments also relate to computer program products for implementing the methods.
The embodiments may find applications in, in particular, wireless devices such as mobile terminal systems, e.g., cell phones, smart phones, etc., or tablets, laptop computers, etc.
2. Related Art
The approaches described in this section could be pursued, but are not necessarily approaches that have been previously conceived or pursued. Therefore, unless otherwise indicated herein, the approaches described in this section are not prior art to the claims in this application and are not admitted to be prior art by inclusion in this section.
NFC is a technology which provides a means of one or two-way communication between electronic devices over a short range, typically a few centimeters. Such communication is increasingly being implemented in devices such as mobile telephones for implementing, for example, cashless-payment systems.
Typically, under the ISO/IEC 18000-3 standard, the maximum data rate that is achievable with NFC is limited to 424 kbit/s. This relatively low data rate tends to limit the applications to which NFC technology can be applied. Accordingly, a challenging aspect of the design of new devices supporting this technology has been to increase the maximum data rate of the NFC devices. Further, due to inherent inefficiencies in NFC technology, in order to achieve a high data rate, a high transmission power must be used. For mobile devices, there is therefore also a need to improve the efficiency of NFC systems to permit lower transmission powers to be used for a given data rate. In addition external influences, such as nearby metallic objects or external electric and/or magnetic fields, can adversely affect the achievable data rate.
It is an aim of the embodiments herein described to overcome or mitigate at least some of the above described limitations.